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At their Monday meeting, councillors voted to increase the salary paid to the mayor by approximately 2.6 per cent. Mayor Rob Burton declared a pecuniary interest out of “an abundance of caution” and did not take part in the vote.

The incoming mayor will take home $119,698 in salary effective January 1, 2015.

Town of Oakville councillors’ pay will remain at $47,896.

Last week, Town of Oakville Commissioner of Corporate Services Gord Lalonde told the Town's administrative services committee the review of council remuneration, resources and expenses and the “generalized adjustment based on market survey” is not specifically aimed at any particular person.

“We reviewed a basket of about 15 municipalities. The practices we’ve fallen into is to ask (the current) council to ratify the salary line for the next incoming council to get as far away from that pecuniary interest as we can,” he said. “This is the best that we can do.”

The mayor’s and councillors’ pay, benefits and expenses are reviewed each election year and compared to councils from similarly populated municipalities to establish what the incoming council should earn. Recommendations are based on the 75th percentile, which is above the average and median.

While the staff report states the stipend for the mayor lags behind the 75th percentile by 2.6 per cent, councillors’ salaries are in line with it.

The mayor currently makes approximately $116,693, while the Burlington mayor earns $122,594 and that in Richmond Hill takes home $120,218.

The staff report also outlines the benefits and expenses mayor and councillors’ have access to, what they can claim and how to do it. They include automobile/mileage allowance, office equipment and materials and conference and seminar expenses.